Environmentalists argue VicForests has not done a good enough job at surveying the forests for protected rare and threatened species, so they are conducting their own surveys in other areas.

The Goongerah Environment Centre have completed a night search for the clumsy possum's smaller mate, the yellow-bellied glider.

In the remote Kuark forest, outside of Orbost, the centre's Ed Hill plays recordings of the powerful owl, a predator of the glider, to see if he could hear the frightened response.

"It's been a really successful survey," Mr Hill said.

"We've recorded 10 yellow-bellied gliders on our transect, which is fantastic. That's enough to get this area of forest protected."

The Goongerah Environment Centre wants to see Victoria's Environment Minister Lisa Neville hand over responsibility for these ecological surveys to an independent body, not VicForests.

They argue the logging body simply is not doing a good enough job.

Ms Neville said in a statement: "The Government is disappointed to see that rare and threatened species may have been impacted by the harvesting operations in question, if this community generated information had not been made available.

"We are currently working to ensure that in the future we are guided by the best available data, which will help improve decision making."

VicForests communications manager David Walsh said the logger would also be changing how it surveyed forests.

"VicForests wouldn't have found them [the animals] ourselves in that particular site, and as a result of that type of occurrence and information coming to us, we're now reviewing our overall approach to targeted pre-harvest fauna surveys for species like greater gliders," he said.

He said his organisation would consider any information it was given about the yellow-bellied glider.

Among the signatories are Biofuelwatch, Center for Biological Diversity, Food and Water Watch, Gaia Foundation, and the World Rainforest Movement. The declaration asks that the EU “exclude bioenergy from its next Renewable Energy Directive, and thereby stop direct and indirect subsidies for renewable energy from biofuels and wood-burning.”

The declaration further states: “The EU claims to have a very ambitious climate policy and emission reduction targets. But this claim is built on the false premise that large-scale bioenergy is inherently carbon neutral, or at least ‘low carbon.’ A growing body of evidence, however, shows that, especially when bioenergy is produced and used on a large scale, it tends to increase rather than decrease carbon emissions when compared to fossil fuels.”

While the declaration itself is short on specifics, a linked supporting document focuses primarily on the widespread use of wood pellets for power generation and palm oil for biodiesel, and the impact of these two energy sources on forests and the communities that depend on those forests. The signatories also link to the World Rainforest Movement, an organization that cites concerns about the administration of the United Nations’ REDD+ program, which was specifically developed to protect forests.

From the U.N.: “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. ‘REDD+’ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.”

So, we have two groups that both claim to share the same concerns but differ widely as to how best to go about addressing them. The forest-protection groups cite examples in which efforts to protect forests through carbon-credit programs like REDD+ are counterproductive in places like the Congo and Costa Rica. They question assumptions made by agencies acting under REDD+, and challenge their basis for assigning credits for preventing deforestation. Furthermore, they assert that locals have not been involved in the process and receive little or no benefit, despite claims to the contrary, and that deforestation actually soared during the period in question.

It underscores the fact that these intervention efforts by well-meaning entrepreneurial outsiders, who see an opportunity to do some good or make a few bucks (or perhaps a little of both), often fall short because of their failure to comprehend the complete picture.

But if oversimplification is the sin of those who would come in and attempt to solve complex problems with simple solutions, it is also the sin of those who would ban all such attempts with a single stroke of the pen. To eliminate all large-scale biofuel production from consideration as renewable energy is to overreact to a few bad experiences and to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

While it’s true that biofuels could be considered less renewable than sunshine or wind, in that it takes longer for the fuel to be renewed, it is clear that they are many, many times more renewable than the fossil fuels they replace. While those good folks wearing environmental hats, passionate in their desire to protect nature from human greed, oppose the idea of industrial agriculture (or anything with the word ‘industrial’), it’s pretty clear that this is an approach that unduly limits our options as we try to rapidly transform our economy to a more sustainable one.

There is a presumption here that small-scale efforts tend to be cleaner and greener than large scale. That has not been documented and is certainly not always the case. But even if it were, it’s unlikely that small-scale efforts alone are enough to get us where we need to be in the little time we have remaining. Is this not another case of letting the perfect get in the way of the good?

Biofuels may or may not ever be perfect, but there are several reasons why they should be included as an important aspect of any renewable portfolio. First, while most renewables like solar and wind are useful for electricity, they don’t directly feed our transportation needs without a massive overhaul of the entire system. Liquid fuels not only provide more energy per pound, but also fit seamlessly into our existing infrastructure. The current regimen in the U.S., while not without its problem, very quickly enabled us to cut gasoline consumption by 10 percent by supplementing it with ethanol. Early reports showing that first-generation, starch-based ethanol produced more carbon than gasoline have been discredited, and efficiencies in both crop production and conversion process have only improved since then.

Biofuel production processes that are carbon-neutral and even carbon-negative havealready been demonstrated and are beginning to scale up.

The path to a sustainable energy future will undoubtedly be filled with numerous potholes, detours and dead ends. Efforts that can’t deliver intended results need to be recognized as such and appropriate actions taken. We have no choice but to use the tools available, including certifications, though the EU declaration argues against this approach. Wood pellets and palm oil needed to be looked at carefully. Most important of all, though, we need to recognize that we don’t have the luxury to rule out an entire category of energy sources on the basis of a few bad experiences.

AM, ABC Radio 17/02/2016MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Skilful in the air, but awkward on land - the greater glider, or clumsy possum as it's otherwise known, is having a big impact on East Gippsland's logging wars.Just last week the state's logger VicForests agreed to lock up 100 hectares of forest after environmentalists discovered 15 of the gliders.Environmentalists argue VicForests hasn't done a good enough job at surveying the forests for protected rare and threatened species, so they're conducting their own surveys in other areas. Journalist Elise Kinsella joined the Goongerah Environment Centre's Ed Hill during a night search for the clumsy possum's smaller mate, the yellow-bellied glider.(Crickets chirp)ELISE KINSELLA: It's the dark of night here in the remote Kuark forest, outside of Orbost. We're about to play a recording of the powerful owl, a predator of the glider, to see if we can hear a frightened response.(Sound owl with distant possum response)Ed, that second sound we heard after the recorded owl noise, that screech in the background - that's what we were after?ED HILL: Yeah that's it, it's that low guttural, kind of... it's quite a distinct sound, and that's what we're looking for. So we record the direction that we've heard that call coming from and we estimate the distance.(Sound of footsteps crunching)ELISE KINSELLA: Ed, we were walking down a fairly dark, straight patch of road, we heard a noise to our right and looked up. Do you want to explain what we saw?ED HILL: We just saw a yellow bellied glider just glide right above our heads just across the road and land in a tree. It's really, really lucky to see these animals actually gliding.ELISE KINSELLA: We're walking back to the car, what's been the final result of tonight's survey? ED HILL: It's been a really successful survey. We've recorded 10 yellow-bellied gliders on our transect, which is fantastic. That's enough to get this area of forest protected.ELISE KINSELLA: Environmentalists want to see Victoria's Environment Minister Lisa Neville hand over responsibility for these ecological surveys to an independent body, not VicForests.They argue the logging body simply isn't doing a good enough job.The ABC asked Ms Neville how much confidence she has that VicForests isn't logging protected species and habitat, after the discovery of 15 greater gliders in a separate section of forest. She replied with this statement: LISA NEVILLE'S STATEMENT: The Government is disappointed to see that rare and threatened species may have been impacted by the harvesting operations in question, if this community generated information had not been made available. We are currently working to ensure that in the future we are guided by the best available data, which will help improve decision making.ELISE KINSELLA: VicForests communications manager, David Walsh, says the logger will also be changing how it surveys forest.DAVID WALSH: Look, VicForests wouldn't have found them ourselves in that particular site and as a result of that type of occurrence and information coming to us, we're now reviewing our overall approach to targeted pre-harvest fauna surveys for species like greater gliders.ELISE KINSELLA: He says his organisation will consider any information it's given about the survey for the yellow bellied glider. MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Elise Kinsella with that report.

16 December, 2015

The state government owned logging company VicForests, is in the legal crosshairs of environmentalists yet again. Lawyers acting on behalf of Environment East Gippsland have this week formally requested an explanation as to why a rich habitat site suited for rare forest-dependent wildlife was not surveyed before logging commenced last week.

“We believe this is a strong case of non-compliance with the law”, said EEG’s Jill Redwood. “This beautiful stand of wet forest contains old growth trees, rainforest and many habitat traits essential for rare and threatened wildlife. It should have been surveyed.”

“We won our Brown Mountain case in 2010 when VicForests logged without checking for the presence of rare native animals. It seems they haven’t learnt.”

“To make things worse, rainforest in this area has not been protected from logging. As far as we are aware, VicForests has already logged unlawfully within the protected rainforest buffer.”

The forest is part of the St Patrick's River catchment south west of Goolengook and NE of Orbost.

“EEG has had concerns for a number of years that VicForests has been making its own decisions on where to survey based more on its commercial interests rather than actual concern for protecting old growth habitat and rare native animals.”

“More areas of high quality habitat are planned for imminent logging and we believe they have also been overlooked for surveying. The less they find, the more they can cut down.

“We’ve told the Andrews Government about these issues and hope it will pull VicForests into line, but we haven’t had any indication yet that they plan to take action”

15 December, 2015

Conservationists from Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO) have halted logging operations in high conservation value forest on the St Patrick’s River in East Gippsland today due to multiple breaches of the law.

A person is positioned in a tree platform 30m off the ground. The platform is tied off to logging machinery which is preventing logging operations from continuing.

GECO believes the logging is illegal. VicForests has failed to carry out necessary pre logging surveys for threatened wildlife, which it is legally obligated to do. Logging has also illegally impacted upon a large stand of protected rainforest.

“The Minister was alerted to these breaches last week but as logging continues we’ve taken direct action to prevent further destruction of wildlife habitat and rainforest,’ said Ed Hill.

Three threatened/protected species have been recorded close to the area; Yellow-bellied Glider, Sooty Owl and the endangered Long-footed Potoroo. The forest is also rich in old trees with hollows – an indication that other rare and protected wildlife could be supported in this forest,” said Ed Hill.

“Many stands of forest with high quality habitat for threatened wildlife are listed by VicForests as being currently logged or about to be logged and appear to have no surveys associated with them. These may also be illegal operations.”

“After a controversial rainforest logging operation was exposed by GECO earlier this year, Environment Minister Lisa Neville MP ordered her department to conduct ‘spot checks’ on VicForests’ logging operations in rainforest areas. This should have ensured rainforests are protected”, said Ed Hill

“Instead we see repeated and blatant contempt of clearly worded laws which should see VicForests charged, as any of us would be for destruction of protected rainforest,” said Ed Hill.

“As the Minister responsible Lisa Neville must act to immediately halt the logging in this coupe and order a full investigation into the suitability of VicForests as a manager of public property,” said Ed Hill.

18 November, 2015

That the proposed Great Forest National Park is in question because VicForests has made long-term logging contracts tells us nothing about the industry's viability or even the need for its existence (The Age, 17/11). It simply tells us our value system is so distorted we would rather release ever more carbon into the atmosphere and watch species go extinct than break a contract and pay a fee. Chopping down trees simply because we said we would is madness.

16 November, 2015

VicForests signing expensive and dubious logging contracts (Age 16/11) just before the change of government in 2014 highlights the urgent need for the Great Forest National Park.

VicForests lacks the social licence for continued logging of our native forests and ongoing destruction of Leadbeaters possum and other threatened species forest habitat. Species extinction and ecosystem collapse are not acceptable.

The declining availability of wood resource from native forests, consumer avoidance of timber and paper produced from it, paltry revenue and debts owed equates to the upcoming cessation of native forest logging.

There are few jobs involved now that whole logs are exported to China.

The future lies in transitioning the logging industry to sustainable plantations and recycled fibre - this will be good for jobs and good for the environment.

Nine out of ten Victorians support the immediate creation of Great Forest National Park during the term of current government. We now just need the political will to do so.

15 November, 2015

The Leadbeater's possum is believed to be perilously close to extinction. Photo: Justin McManus

A plan for a new national park to protect the endangered Leadbeater's possum has been dealt a blow with revelations VicForests locked in millions of dollars worth of new logging contracts.

State Labor ducked a proposal to create a Great Forest national park stretching from Kinglake to Mt Baw Baw and north-east up to Eildon in the recent state election, instead announcing a taskforce made up of environment groups, scientists, the union and the forestry industry.

The decision to set up the taskforce to strike a "consensus" followed pressure during the campaign from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and and Energy Union, which had threatened to campaign against Labor on concerns that ending logging in the area would threaten Gippsland jobs.

Environment Minister Lisa Neville earlier this year said she believed the park would be created this term, with a commitment to protect logging industry jobs. Conservations and scientists – including Sir David Attenborough – have long argued that the park is needed to protect the possum, which is believed to be perilously close to extinction.

But VicForests' latest annual report, tabled in Parliament last week, suggests ending logging before the 2018 election could be difficult. The report shows VicForests negotiated various contracts to harvest and haul 900,000 cubic metres of wood a year for the next three or four years.

It said the agreements – which could cost more than $50 million a year assuming current harvest and haulage costs – had the potential to be extended, "providing the greatest level of security that contractors have had since 2009".

News of the new deals has left the state government struggling to explain how a national park might be created into the near future. A government spokeswoman said the annual report confirmed the finalisation of the timber allocation process that began in late 2012, under the previous government.
But in a potentially controversial decision, Labor confirmed it would not financially back any new long-term timber deals until the taskforce has delivered its findings.

"The Labor government has determined that we will not indemnify any new long-term timber sales agreements until the deliberations of the industry taskforce are completed and the government has received its recommendations," the spokeswoman said.

"The taskforce involves government, industry and science working together to reach common ground on the issues facing the industry, such as job protection, economic activity and protection of our unique native flora, fauna and threatened species such as the Leadbeater's possum."

The annual report also showed VicForests returned a $4.7 million profit last financial year, the third in a row, with a dividend of $1.5 million expected to be paid to the state. VicForests chief executive Robert Green said the industry contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy a year.

"Our revenue from timber sales is up on last year and VicForests alone has injected more than $85 million into regional economies through contracts with local businesses and wages," Mr Green said.
The report also confirmed VicForests started exporting low-grade logs, with approximately 3600 cubic tonnes sent overseas, most likely to China.

27 October, 2015

PHOTO: The giant log, estimated to be hundreds of years old, was cut down in contravention with forest regulations. (Facebook)

An environment group called Knitting Nannas of Toolangi is taking a complaint of intimidation to police after a logging truck drove past one of their gatherings at an "unacceptably high speed" last week, north of Melbourne.

When members of the group posted photos of the truck on Facebook, it sparked a torrent of abuse from pro-logging advocates, including a photo of giant tree on the back of a logging truck.

The log, believed to be four or five metres in circumference and hundreds of years old, had "hug this" painted on it, a reference to the term "tree huggers" which is often used to describe environmental campaigners.

The photo sparked outrage amongst environmental campaigners.

A spokeswoman for the group, who have campaigned against the logging of environmentally sensitive logging coupes in the area, said the photo showed a "lack of respect" for anyone who opposed logging.

The spokeswoman asked not to be named because of fear of reprisals.

She said the group was formed to stop intimidation from pro-logging groups.

"We're now being subjected to the same treatment," she said.

Loggers 'giving the finger'

Members of the Knitting Nannas said they were taking their complaint to police in hope the intimidation would stop.

Jill Redwood from another group, Environment East Gippsland, said it was the loggers "giving the finger" to environmental groups.

"It was recklessly provocative and shows total contempt for community values and the concerns about our forests," she said.

"It was put up the same day I and two other groups were meeting with department [Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning] to start process of working out giant tree prescriptions [to protect them]," she said.

Loggers are not supposed to cut down any tree over nine metres in circumference.

Nathan Trushell, of VicForests, the state-owned business responsible for logging, said it does not "condone this type of behaviour."

"We are following up with the contractor concerned to address the issue," he said in a statement.

"Our contractors are very responsible in the way the conduct themselves but this was a clear error in judgement from the individual involved.